What is Replication?

Replication is the process that transfers the data from the source master to CD or DVD discs. It's often talked about with 'Duplication', and it is a common misconception that they are the same. Here we'll try to reveal the mystery behind replication.

Pre-replication step

After the source master is submitted to the manufacturing plant, it is first checked for unreadable sectors. It could be the result of an incomplete DVD-R or CD-R. Without this verification steps you might end up with many faulty discs at the end.

Glass Mastering

When we talk about 'pressing' discs, the first step is to transfer data from the master onto a 'master mold'. In this case it is called a glass master. Laser beam is used to create pits or grooves onto a glass master. The spacing and length of the grooves are determined by data on the master.

Stampers

You must heard of it before, but what is a stamper anyway? The glass master is used to create a stamper - the mold for the CD/DVD discs. Remember the grooves that are created in the glass mastering process? They are pressed against a nickel layer to become a stamper. The grooves are transferred onto the stamper which will eventually form part of a CD/DVD disc.

Molding the discs

With the stampers that are created, we're ready to mold the discs. Polycarbonate materials are molded with the grooves on the stampers to become a disc. DVDs require 2 layers of the polycarbonate discs, which is then bonded together. For CDs, a layer of lacquer is put onto the discs for protection.

Did you know?
- We create 10% more discs (overruns) in order to replace the ones that fail our quality assurance tests. That's why our customers will always receive 100% working CDs and DVDs.